Under the Mistletoe
by ImpactRed520
Summary: [OneShot] The holidays are in session, but Gabriella isn't enjoying it. Troyella [CoAuthored with larabaybee.]


**Hello everyone, this oneshot is the latest collaboration between myself and larabaybee. I wanna make that clear that I didn't write this by myself, she came up with the idea for this and wrote the whole thing with me. We hope you guys like it.**

**Disclaimer: We do not own anything here except the plot.**

**Under the Mistletoe **

"JOSEPH WILL YOU PICK UP AFTER YOURSELF FOR ONCE?"

"I'M BUSY!"

"WATCHING FOOTBALL DOES NOT COUNT AS BUSY!"

"IT DOES WHEN YOU HAVE MONEY ON THE GAME!"

Gabriella sat in her room, listening helplessly to her parents' endless arguing.

Just as she began to think there was no where left for her to turn, her phone rang.

Her face broke out into a faint smile as she saw Troy's face appear on the screen of her phone.

"Hello?" She spoke into the phone quietly.

"Hey, you alright? You don't sound so good." The caller asked concerned.

"Oh, I'm fine, I've just been... tired lately I guess." Gabriella said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Well, you're gonna need some rest, because you, me, and the whole gang are going to Colorado." Troy informed the brunette, excitedly.

"Wait... what?"

"Okay, remember where we first met?" Troy inquired.

"You mean the ski lodge?" Gabriella knitted her eyebrows in confusion.

On the other side, Troy nodded and upon realizing she couldn't see her, he spoke up.

"Yup," He grinned widely. "So pack your bags and get ready to go, princess."

Hearing a cark honk from the driveway, Gabriella trudged down the stairs, struggling with her suitcase. Knowing she'd probably be in trouble if she left without notice, she called out to her parents. She also knew they wouldn't hear her. She's been practically invisible to them lately, ever since they started fighting.

Sometimes she wished they'd just get a divorce and get it over with, but unfortunately, they were one of those couples who thought divorce wasn't right and it wasn't fair to the children. Bullshit.

"Mom, Dad...I'm going out," She rolled her suitcase to the entrance to the kitchen where her parents were bickering over how the fork ended up under the table. "to Colorado. I'll be back in a week or so."

The couple continued to argue, barely acknowledging their daughter

Gabriella dragged her suitcase outside.

"Need any help there?" Troy asked, leaning against the white Scion TC looking amused.

Gabriella continued to struggle to drag her bag down the icy driveway. "No, no I'm doing just _great_. She attempted to lift the heavy suitcase into the backseat; the result, unsuccessful.

Troy chuckled a little before grabbing her suitcase and loading it into the car.

He opened the door for her, then got into the driver's seat.

He started the car, turned to Gabriella and said, "So, how's life been treating you?"

"I guess it's been alright" Gabriella answered back, smiling faintly, trying to act as if nothing was wrong.

"It doesn't sound like everything is alright." Troy said with concern.

"I said I'm alright!" she told him, a little more forceful than intended.

Troy, taken aback by her tone, decided to back off for now.

Gabriella's voice softened, "Sorry, just drop it for now…"

Troy nodded and Gabriella leaned her head against the window.

Gabriella stared blankly out the terminal window, watching the planes take off while Troy and the group watched her worriedly. She could feel all eyes on her (all of her friends' eyes, anyways). It had pretty much been that way since Troy arrived at the airport and told Chad about what happened in the car, who, in turn, told Taylor, who told the girls. Sharpay told Ryan and Zeke, and the game of telephone finally ended at Jason, with everyone knowing. Everyone had been staring at her concernedly...it was getting annoying. Too annoying.

"Will you all stop staring at me?!" She snapped as she whipped her head around to face her friends. The worried looks on their faces quickly changed to fearful ones.

"Gabi, we're just worried about you..." Sharpay stated quietly.

"Well don't be! There's nothing to be worried about!"

"Gabi--" Troy started, resting a hand on her arm, but was cut off by the announcement informing them it was time to board the plane. Gabriella brushed his hand off, stood up, and began walking towards the tunnel that connected to the plane.

They got on the plane, and Troy decided to try and get to the bottom of things with Gabriella, who was still very distant.

"Hey Gabi?" he asked.

She was about to respond, when the announcement came that the plane would be taking off.

"Oh, could you wait until we're in the air? I want to watch the plane take off and stuff." Gabriella replied.

"Oh, sure." Troy said.

The plane took off, and after a few minutes, Troy started talking again.

"So, Gabi, are you excited?" he asked her.

She just continued starring out the window and nodded.

"Look, I don't wanna be too nosy or anything…" he started to say until Gabriella turned to him.

"Then don't! Just, leave it be Troy, at least until we land or something okay?" Gabriella said.

"First its 'wait until we're in the air' now its 'wait until we land.' Are we ever actually getting around to talking about this?" Troy pleaded.

Gabriella, obviously frustrated, managed to convince Chad to switch seats with her.

She ended up sitting to the right of a tall guy with brown hair and hazel eyes. He seemed athletic, and also very interested in Gabriella.

"Hey." He said turning to her.

"Hi." She replied softly.

"Want to know an interesting fact?" he asked her.

"Ummm, sure, I guess." Gabriella said.

"Did you know that the distance from here to here," he started to say as he pointed to her left wrist and left shoulder with his right hand, "Is the same as the distance from here to here." He said as he pointed from her left shoulder to her right shoulder.

His right arm was now around her, "Hi, my name is Bradin." He said with a smile.

"Gabriella," She replied slowly, glancing at the arm casually slung across her shoulders.

She was beginning to wonder whether or not she had made the right choice switching seats with Chad...

Seeing the yellow seat belt sign turn off, Gabriella rose from her seat. "Bathroom," she explained shortly to Bradin, who was giving her a confused look.

He nodded and watched her walk towards the restroom.

Emerging from the bathroom, Gabriella began to walk back to her seat, but a few feet away from her destination, felt a hand on her arm. Turning around, she realized the hand belonged to Troy.

"Yes?" Gabriella questioned coolly.

"Who's that?" Troy asked casually, although, she could feel him tense up, trying not to explode.

"Bradin." She answered with a shrugs of her shoulders. Troy rolled his eyes.

"You know what I mean! Why was his arm around you?"

"Why are you being so overprotective and nosey?" She shot back.

"I'm not being nosey OR overprotective. I just want to know why that complete stranger had his arm around you!" He whispered harshly.

"Why do you care?"

"I… well the thing is…" he paused as if searching for the words to say.

Gabriella merely rolled her eyes, sighed, and returned to her seat… next to Bradin.

Bradin was starring out the window, but immediately turned to Gabriella when she took her seat.

"Is that your boyfriend?" he asked motioning over to Troy.

"Were you like, watching me?" asked the annoyed brunette. .

"No, not really, I just kinda… glanced." Bradin said with a warm smile.

She sighed, "Really doesn't seem like any of your business."

Bradin shrugged, "Maybe not, but… is he your boyfriend?"

"No, he is not my boyfriend." Gabriella stated bluntly.

"So who is he then?" Bradin pressed on.

"Just some guy." Gabriella said shaking her head.

"Like, in the same sense that I'm just some guy?" he asked.

"Why are you asking so many questions?" she was getting fed up with her nosy seatmate.

"Hey, hour plus flight, we've got time to kill."

Gabriella didn't respond.

"Look, I'm just saying, when people argue like that, their usually pretty close."

"How do you know we were arguing?" Gabriella asked.

"Well, he seemed pretty jealous, but who can blame him, I mean… it's me." Bradin said as motioned to himself.

"So you were eavesdropping?" Gabriella reasoned.

"No, not eavesdropping, I call it, being attentive."

"He's just being really nosy" Gabriella said, "and I CAN'T stand, nosy people." she said, hoping he would get the point.

"Oh, well, what was HE being so nosy about?" Bradin questioned.

"I've just been going through some stuff, and I haven't really told my friends about it." She told him.

"Well, why haven't you told them?" Bradin asked.

She just shrugged.

"Look, if you really are having a rough time, I don't think it's now that you should be pushing your friends away." Bradin said calmly.

Gabriella turned to face him, "Who are you Dr. Phil?"

Bradin chuckled at her remark, "Hey, sorry for trying to help."

Gabriella put her head down, "They wouldn't understand."

"How do you know?"

"Because I don't really understand it sometimes." Gabriella said plainly.

"Well then, you guys can not understand it together." Bradin's warm, comforting smile never left his face.

Gabriella smiled slightly.

"Hey, a smile, now we're getting somewhere." Bradin said, smiling back.

She let out a small laugh.

"I guess all I'm saying is, it's always better to walk through the unknown with someone you trust than with no one at all."

Gabriella nodded in agreement.

The whole gang was at baggage claim trying to find their stuff; Gabriella was still talking with Bradin.

Troy was eyeing the pair like a hawk.

Soon after everyone had got their things, Bradin found his and turned to Gabriella.

"Well, I guess that's it." He said.

"Guess so." Gabriella said, she really had warmed up to Bradin.

"Nice meeting you Gabriella." He said as he extended his hand for her to shake, "Hope you have a Merry Christmas here in Denver."

Gabriella saw his hand, but through her arms around him instead.

"You too, and thanks for everything." She whispered to him.

Bradin smiled, and walked away to his cab.

Once everyone was ready to go, the girls all piled into the cab.

As the car started down the road, Taylor began casually, "Sooooo," She smirked. "Who was that guy? Seemed like you knew him."

"No, I didn't. Just met him on the plane." Gabriella answered truthfully.

"You sure?" Kelsi cut in quietly. "because you two looked pretty comfy--"

"Yes, I'm sure!" Gabriella snapped, exasperated.

"Really?" Sharpay pressed.

"FOR THE LAST FREAKING TIME, I'M SURE!" She practically yelled, startling the driver a bit.

There was a tense silence before Kelsi spoke up.

"What about Troy?"

"What _about_ Troy?" Gabriella asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't you think he'd have something to say about this?" Kelsi replied.

"I don't see how it's any of his business. I don't even see why he should care, anyways."

The three girls in the back seat just looked at each other in astonishment, surprised that Gabriella hadn't figured it out yet.

"You seriously don't see it?"

"No, I seriously don't, Sharpay." Gabriella answered, confusedly.

Taylor sighed before breaking the news to Gabriella.

"Gabi, Troy likes you," Then added mumbling, "And I seriously don't understand how you haven't seen it..." Gabriella didn't even hear the last comment, she was too in shock from what she had just heard… what she had been wanting to hear for such a long time now.

"So did you guys see Gabriella with that guy?" Jason asked Troy, who seemed to be in his own world.

The rest of the guys in the van turned to Jason.

"I guess we all noticed then, right?" Jason responded.

"Yea, we did." Chad said before turning to Troy, "So what's your plan captain?"

"What do you mean?" Troy asked.

"You know, like, aren't you finally gonna tell Gabi you like her?" Chad asked.

"What are you talking about? I do not like Gabi." Troy lied.

The rest of the guys gave Troy the same glare they had just given to Jason.

"Right, and Ryan doesn't own like every single hat ever made." Zeke added.

The group shared a laugh.

"Hey Zeke, why don't you go and bake me some cookies or something okay?" Ryan responded.

"Okay, so maybe I do, but she seemed really comfortable with that guy…" Troy said, returning to the previous subject.

"Hey, whatever that was, she's probably never gonna see him again." Zeke stated.

"Yea, and she totally likes you dude, just go for it." Ryan suggested.

Troy just nodded.

The girls arrived at the ski lodge first, and they quickly checked in.

"Hey let's say we explore a little bit." Sharpay suggested.

"Yea I'm in." Taylor said.

"Me too." Agreed Kelsi.

Gabriella didn't say anything.

"Coming Gabi?" asked a concerned Sharpay.

Gabriella just shook her head, "No, I think I'll just head up to my room."

Soon after, the guys got there and checked in.

"Hey guys, Taylor says that they're on the other side of the lodge and she wants us to meet them." Chad told the guys.

"Is Gabi with them?" Troy asked with concern on his face.

"Hold on lemme check" Chad quickly asked Taylor, "No, she's up in her room."

Troy quickly ran away from his friends in search of Gabriella.

Chad, Zeke, Ryan, and Jason just watched him run away.

"So is anyone gonna tell him her room number?" Jason asked in amusement.

Seconds later, Troy had returned.

"Hey guys…" He started.

"Room 37156 Troy." Ryan said.

"Thanks." Troy managed to say before running into the elevator.

"Okay, you can do this Troy, just go right up to her, and tell her." Troy said to himself as the elevator was slowly coming to a stop on his desired floor.

When the doors opened, he was surprised to see Gabriella.

"Hey." Troy said.

"Hi, I was just going down to look for everybody." Gabriella said as she got inside.

Troy pressed the button for the first floor, "And I was just coming to get you."

"So what's the deal with you and that guy from the plane?" Troy asked.

Gabriella remembered what her friends had told her about Troy and tried to get off the subject.

"It was nothing Troy." She said.

"Oh, well, you seemed like you knew him." Troy seemed very curious.

"Well I just met him."

"You hugged him…" Troy reminded her.

"Look, Troy, let's just get off this topic okay?" Gabriella pleaded.

"Fine."

The elevator doors opened up.

"Hey Gabi, we're at the ski lodge now." Troy said.

She gave him a confused look, "Yes Troy, we are. You're smarter than I give you credit for."

"No, I mean, you said you would tell me what's up when we got here." Troy stated.

"Oh, well, I dunno if…" Gabriella started saying.

"Gabi" Troy interrupted, "What's going on?"

Gabriella sighed and motioned towards the couch.

"So?" Troy asked.

"Well, you see, the thing is, it's my parents." She said.

"Kinda vague Gabi." Troy responded.

"Well, lately, they've been arguing… a lot." Gabriella explained.

"Oh." Troy was starting to understand, "Is it bad? Like _really _bad?"

Gabriella shrugged, "I'm not really sure anymore." By now she was starting to get teary eyed.

Troy noticed and immediately put his arm around her, comforting her by pulling her closer.

"Hey, come on, your parents will get through it." Troy said soothingly.

She shook her head, "It's not even just that" she sobbed, "They barely even notice me anymore…" she let out a sad chuckle, "They probably don't even know I'm here."

"Gabi…" Troy was saying.

"I just, I don't feel like I matter anymore you know?" Gabriella told him as she rested her head on him.

"You matter to me." Troy stated.

Gabriella looked up at him, "What do you mean?"

"Gabi look, I don't know what it is, but there's just something about you that I just find really" Troy paused, "amazing."

Gabriella had a feeling she knew where it was going.

"I just – I really like you Gabi, and you should never feel unimportant, because quite frankly, you mean the world to me." Troy said as he starred deep into her eyes.

Gabriella smiled.

"Soooo?" Troy asked.

She let out a small laugh, "Soooo, what?"

"Aren't you gonna let me know how you feel about meeee?" Troy asked.

Gabriella didn't say a word, she just glanced to the ceiling, and pointed up to the red and green shrubbery that hung from a hook, and slowly closed the gap that separated their lips.

**Well I hope you guys liked reading this as much as we liked writing it. Read and Review. And as a side note, hope everyone has a happy and safe holidays.**


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